Cutting mechanism



April 10, 1934. F. A. BREEZE CUTTING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l Invenfor- Fr ank Breeze Bya.

April 1934. F. A. BREEZE 1,954,613

CUTTING MECHANI SM Filed Feb. 25, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I: lllllll IF .12.. Inventor Frank R. Breeze Patented Apr. 10, 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE,

11 Claims.

This invention relates to improved cutting mechanism designed for cutting grain and the like. An object of the invention is to provide a very simplified type of cutting mechanism which will efficiently out grain.

A further object of the invention is to provide apparatus of this character which will only require a minimum amount of power to operate and, therefore, may be employed by the individual farmer.

A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which may be very economically manufactured and which may be readily maintained and operated at a low cost.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists essentially of cutting mechanism in the form of a rotary drum formed with a perforated peripheral casing or screen adapted to revolve around cutting means positioned adjacent the perforate casing designed to cut the material introduced to the revolving drum and whirled therewithin by centrifugal force, as more fully described in the following specification and illustrated in the accompanying drawings which form part of the same.

Referring to the drawings:-

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, of the improved cutter.

Figure 2 is a sectional end elevation of the machine.

'Figure 3' is a fragmentary perspective view of a part of the drum. 7 Figure 4 is a perspective view of one of the cutting knives usually employed. Figure 5 is a section taken on Figure 4.

, Figure 6 is' a perspective view, partly in section, of an alternative form of knife, and Figure '7 is a fragmentary sectional view ofthe screen and knife supporting member, showing the relative position of a knife and screen.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, A indicates the cutter as a whole, which may consist in the supporting base 10 on which is mounted the drum casing 11 preferably formed in two parts, as indicated in Figure 2, flanged as at 1 2 and secured together in any suitable manner such as by the bolts 13. This casing is'preferably cylindrical in form and is designed to house the revolving drum and parts housed therewithin.

The revolving drum is' indicated by the numeral 14 and consists of the disc members 15 and 16 which are preferably 'circumferentially grooved as at 17 to receive therebetween the perforated eripheral casing or screen 18, thedisc members the line 5-5 of 17 being secured together in any suitable manner such as by the bolts 19.

For the sake of convenience in construction and dismantling the casing or screen 18 is preferably formed in sections, as indicated in Figure 3, the sections adjoining as at 20. In this way, to remove a section it is not necessary that all the bolts or securing members for the discs be removed but those adjacent the joint 20 may be loosened and the discs spread apart in that area so that the section may be pulled out and withdrawn.

At the centre of the disc 15 the shaft 21 is rigidly secured, this shaft being jcurnalled in the supporting posts 22 of the base 10 and carrying the pulley 23 designed to be rotated by belt to correspondingly rotate the shaft and drum. The disc 16 is orificed as at 24 in its central area so as to permit the tube or conduit 25 to extend therethrough into the interior of the drum. The tube or conduit 25 is preferably positioned in opposed relation to the shaft 21 and may be secured in the supporting post 26 attached to the base 10. The inner end of the tube or conduit 25 is most suitably, though not necessarily, secured to the knife-carrying member or support 28. The knifecarryin'g member is secured on the tube or conduit 25 in any suitable manner and it will be noted, upon referring to Figure 1, that this tube or conduit directly communicates with the interior of the drum 14 so as to discharge the material to be cut into the interior of the drum.

The wall tube 25 is provided with an orifice to receive one end of a feeding conduit 29, the opposite end of which communicates with the discharge 30 of a hopper 31. The material is therefore fed to the tube or conduit by gravity according to the preferred form. It will be understood, however, that any suitable means may be employed to positively discharge the material from the hopper to the feeding conduit 29. The material will then pass from the discharge 30 of the hopper through the conduit 29 and to the tube or conduit 25. Within this tube or conduit a conveyor, such as illustrated in the drawings at 34, may be provided and the material is then discharged into the interior of the drum to be acted upon by the knives or cutting members carried by the knife-carrying member or support.

The knives 'or cutting members are preferably attached to shanks provided radially around the peripheral edge of the supporting member and project laterally from these shanks. In the case where the peripheral edge of the supporting member terminates adjacent the screen the knives or cutting members would project latera suitable T ally from their shanks directly from the edge of the support. When, however, the edge of the supporting member terminates at a distance from the screen, as illustrated, the shanks of the knives or cutting members project radially from the said edge to a point adjacent to the screen and from this point the knives or cutting members project laterally from the radial shanks. In general terms, therefore, the blades or cutting members project laterally from the supporting member in either case.

The knives or cutting members illustrated are in the form of a fiat shank 35 formed with a curved head 36 of channel formation provided at one side with a knife edge 37 (see Figure 5), the knife edge preferably being suitably processedso that it is very hard and will consequently withstand wear. The shank 35 is suitably orificed as at 38 to form means for securing the shank to the supporting member 28, while permitting of adjustment, and a bolt 39 or similar device may be passed through the member 28 and the orifice 38 to rigidly secure the knife upon the supporting member in the required. adjusted position.

The position of the lmife or knives relative to the perforated casing or screen may be varied by swinging the shank about its securing bolt and thus the knife edge 37 may be positioned at various angles to the casing or screen 18.

A plurality of knives or cutting members are preferably used for the cutting of the material but one knife may alone be used if necessary, according to the type of machine employed. Furthermore, the shape of the cutting knife or knives may be altered to give a wider cutting surface particularly adaptable for operation when the power is increased above the average. The proposed alternative form is illustrated in Figure 6, consisting of the shank 35 which is curved as at 36 and extends as at 40 in a fiat knife portion terminating in a downwardly turned end 41. Thus the fiat portion 40 extends practically in parallelism with the transverse plane of the casing or screen 18.

When the shaft 21 is revolved, the drum 14 also revolves but the knife-carrying or supporting member 28 and the supported knives or cutting members remain stationary. The material being fed into the drum through the tube or conduit 25 drops into the drum and is whirled around therewithin adjacent to the casing or screen 18 through centrifugal force. The material therefore comes in contact with the knife edges 37 of the knives or cutting members under its own momentum and consequently, through successive contact, is cut to very fine proportions. The knife blades are adjusted at an angle to the screen 18 creating a partial vacuum between the end or outer surface of the knives and the casing 18 so that a direct suction takes place towards that edge of the knife opposite to the blade and the out and uncut material passing over the knife comes to rest on the screen prior to the next cutting contact. The more finely cut material will, however, contact with the screen before the heavier material so that if it is fine enough it will be drawn through the screen. In other words, the finely cut material, being lighter, will freely pass through an area of the screen adjacent the rearward side of the knives before the heavier material again contacts with the screen at a point beyond that at which the fine material discharges. When the material passes through the screen 18 it is received within the casing 11.

Due to the centrifugal force set up within the designed to receive the cut material.

drum and the action just described, as the grain whirls around within the drum adjacent the blades, the finely cut grain in suspension, after passing over the knife, follows the path of the lighter air which passes through the screen owing to the suction. The fine particles of cut grain pass through the screen before the heavier uncut grain contacts with the screen and the uncut grain is further acted upon in a continuous manner during the rotation of the drum.

Connected to the casing 11 practically at a tangent thereto is a discharge conduit 42 which is Due to the speed at which the drum 14 is rotating, fairly intense suction is created in conduit 42 and the out material therefore passes upwardly through the conduit 42, due to this suction and the momentum of the discharging grain. From the conduit 42 the cut grain is delivered to a suitable receiver.

It will be realized that the apparatus produced is of a very simple type and, due to the simplicity of the structure and the fact that the cutting of grain and the sifting of the cut grain through the screen takes place continuously without stopping the whirling action of the grain, the cutter may be operated with greatly reduced power. It is quite apparent that, owing to the construction of the machine, it can be economically manufactured and maintained and operated at a very low cost.

Various modifications may be made in the invention without departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the claims and, therefore, the exact forms shown are to be taken as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense and I desire that only such limitations shall be placed thereon as are imposed by the prior art or are specifically set forth in the appended claims.

What I claim is:-

1. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a cutting member extending within said drum separate from and supported independently of the drum and screen, positioned adjacent said screen, means for introducing material to said drum, and means for rotating the drum to contact the material with the cutting member, said cutting member being provided with a cutting edge and fitted at an angle to the screen member to co-operate therewith by lifting the cut grain to discharge said grain through the screen member following each cutting contact.

2. The device as claimed in claim 1, in which the cutting member is adjustable on the support to position its blade relatively to the screen member.

3. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a stationary knife support extending within said drum, a plurality of spaced apart knives on said support positioned adjacent said screen, means for continuously introducing material to said drum, and means for rotating said drum to contact the material with the knives, said cutting member being set at an angle to the screen member to co-operate therewith to discharge cut grain through the screen member following each cutting contact.

4. Cutting mechanism for grain comprising a casing, a rotatable drum positioned within said casing formed by a pair of disc members and an intervening peripheral screen member, a stationary knife support extending within said drum, a plurality of knives on said support positioned adjacent said screen, means for and the like,

introducing material to said drum, and means for rotating said drum to contact said material with the knives.

5. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a casing, a rotatable drum positioned within said casing and formed with a screen member, a stationary knife support extending within said drum, a knife on said support positioned adjacent said screen, means for introducing material to said drum, means for rotating said drum to contact said material with said knife, said knife and screen member co-operating to positively discharge finely cut material through said screen after each cutting contact and a discharge conduit connected with said casing adapted to discharge the fine particles of material received in said casing from the screen member.

6. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed from a pair of discs secured together provided with a peripheral screen member, a shaft rigidly connected to one of said discs to rotate the drum, a second shaft formed with a hollow portion designed to extend through an orifice in the second disc designed to discharge material within said drum, a knife support within said drum, a knife on said support positioned adjacent said screen member, means for feeding material to the hollow portion of said second shaft for introduction to the drum, means for rotating said drum to contact the material with the knife, and means for receiving and discharging the disintegrated material passed through said screen member.

7. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a knife support extending within said drum, a cutting member laterally projecting from said support and positioned adjacent said screen, means for introducing material to said drum, and means for rotating said drum to contact the material with the cutting member, said cutting member and screen member co-operating to positively discharge finely cut material through said screen after each cutting contact.

8. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like,

comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a supporting member extending within said drum, a plurality of spaced apart cutting members on said supporting member projecting laterally therefrom and positioned adjacent said screen, means for introducing material to said drum, and means for rotating said drum to contact the material with the cutting members, whereby finely cut material is positively discharged through the screen member at each cutting contact.

9. The device as claimed in claim 8 in which the cutting members are formed with shanks designed to be fastened to the supporting member, the shanks being formed with a head of channel formation provided at one side with a knife edge.

10. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a stationary knife support extending within said drum, a cutting member on said support positioned adjacent said screen, means for introducing material to said drum, means for rotating said drum to contact the material With the cutting member whereby finely cut material is positively discharged through the screen member at each cutting contact, and means for adjusting the cutting member laterally to the supporting member and screen, to vary the cutting effect.

11. Cutting mechanism for grain and the like, comprising a rotatable drum formed with a screen member, a knife support extending within said drum, a cutting member laterally projecting from said support and positioned adjacent said screen, a hollow shaft projecting into said drum for introducing material thereto, said knife support being mounted on said shaft, and means for rotating said drum to contact the material with the cutting member, said cutting member and screen member co-operating to positively discharge finely cut material through said screen after each cutting contact.

FRANK A. BREEZE. 

